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A memory submitted by James Verschoyle, Class of 1965

My wife, Kathleen Brooks, and I were students at SMU from 1959 until 1963 and we both earned our BBA degrees.

Our favorite professor was Frank A. Young in the Insurance Department. Mr. Young was a highly competent and effective professor. He taught insurance from a scholarly point of view as well as a vocational one.

Professor Young knew each student by name and kept up with all of us including our marriages, children, careers, awards, illnesses and funerals. He singlehandedly organized and maintained an Insurance Alumni Club with newsletters biannually with great detail about each former student mentioned in that particular letter. This was all done at his sole expense long before fax machines and emails became available.

None of us will ever forget Mr. Young’s fool-proof grading system. First, there was a pop quiz at the beginning of every class. Those total scores were the equivalent of one major test. In addition to the pop quizzes there were two or three other major tests. We were given an option of dropping any one of those major tests with the dangerous opposition that any course material on the final exam which pertained to the dropped test counted double on the final exam score. In other words, if you didn’t learn that material the first time you had a chance to learn it for the final exam… but at great risk! Professor Young’s system was designed to require each student to prepare daily and have a comprehensive understanding of the entire course material.

Professor Young also had a great tradition of organizing and leading an annual bus trip to visit the Insurance Department at the capital in Austin. Not only was the trip educational, it built good spirits, camaraderie and an extensive network of friends in the insurance industry.

To this day, 50 years later, the Insurance Department Alumni still look forward to receiving our Frank Young Newsletter (via email) with great anticipation and fond memories.